The
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with
the Government of Cameroun, the Central African ECA Subregional
Office, the Media School of the University of Yaounde II
and Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et Techniques de
l’Information et de la Communication (ESSTIC) will
hold a workshop on the theme, ‘Involving editors and
directors of media houses in building the Information Society,’
from 28-30 June 2006 in Yaounde, Cameroun.
According
to ECA’s Thierry Amoussougbo, Regional Advisor in
the Development Services Division (DISD), Participants will
be drawn from key media leaders to discuss ways of improving
analytical coverage of ICT for development and increasing
awareness on how ICTs can contribute to a fairer and equal
world as outlined in the Millennium Development Goals.
Following
the workshop, it is expected that the media will be empowered
to meaningfully contribute to the implementation of the
National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI)
policies and plans in various countries of the Central African
sub-region and be more involved in pushing forward the recommendations
adopted by policymakers and other stakeholders during a
workshop on “ICT Policies, Access and Regulation”,
which was held in Douala from 7-9 June 2006.
“We
intend to come up with a plan on how the media can increase
information dissemination on the NICI policies and plans.”
He says, adding that the media should use the tools available
to them to provide information to the general public on
how ICTs can empower the poor and vulnerable communities,
for instance, through new forms of learning and access to
health.
The
workshop is a follow-up of the regional media training of
trainers workshop that was held for Francophone media training
institutions in Yaounde, Cameroon in August 2005, where
participants focused on integrating ECA’s African
Information Society Initiative (AISI) media training modules
in institutional curricula.
Co-sponsored
by ECA, and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), the
workshop will also re-examine the media training modules.
Approximately thirty participants from Cameroun, Gabon,
Chad, Congo, Republic of Central of Africa (RCA), Equatorial
Guinea, and Sao-tome & Principe are expected to attend.
ECA
is involved in other Information Society activities in the
region, including a study on the “Formulation of a
Cyber Strategy for Central Africa” with support from
Finland.
For
more information on this workshop, contact: Thierry Amoussougbo
(tamoussougbo@uneca.org)
More on ECA's ICT for Development programme: http://www.uneca.org/aisi
